Over the weekend, the National Education Association (NEA) Representative Assembly advanced New Business Item (NBI) 39, a resolution calling for the boycott of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). This alarming vote comes amid a broader pattern of antisemitic rhetoric and exclusionary behavior within union spaces, especially since the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks.

It is shocking and disgraceful that the largest teachers union in the country is calling for a boycott of the ADL and their decades of education materials and data. This biased and one-sided resolution would keep important lessons about antisemitism, the Holocaust, hate, bigotry and bias out of K-12 classrooms.

In response, the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia’s Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) is circulating this joint letter to NEA leadership, urging them to condemn antisemitism within their organization, reject NBI 39, and take immediate steps to ensure Jewish educators, students, and families feel safe and supported in school communities across the country. To read the letter, click here.

Additionally, the ADL is circulating this petition to demand the NEA fulfill its responsibility to educators, students and families by restoring its partnership and recommitting to the fight against antisemitism. Tell the NEA Executive Committee that it is unacceptable to fail the students they serve by depriving them of resources that can help them fight hate and discrimination.  To sign the petition, click here.